Introducing Yourself to Coaches
You can’t expect college coaches to know who you are and want to give you an athletic scholarship simply because of your athletic success. There are thousands of other student-athletes out there that you are competing against. You have to set yourself apart and get in contact with the coaches you may want to play for. Email can be a quick way to reach out to coaches, but taking the time to send written letters may get you noticed as well.
Guidelines for Letters and Emails
Get your name out there. Contact at least one coach each week, or around 50 a year. That may sound like a lot, but building relationships with multiple coaches might just result in several scholarship options when it’s time to choose a college.
Research each school and coach. Find out specific information about the athletic program you’re contacting. Mention important wins or other recent success the coach has had. This kind of personal touch shows that you’re interested in the coach and the college.
Avoid using a form letter. Coaches can tell when you do. Take the time to personalize each letter or email.
Include some essential aspects. There are several basic things that every letter or email should include.
- A personalized salutation including the coach’s name. Never start with, “To Whom it May Concern.”
- Your basic information including your high school, the position that you play, or events that you compete in.
- Include some of your important athletic stats as well as academic stats like your GPA and placement test scores.
- Tell the coach of any club sports or camps that you’re participating in.
- Include any recognition you’ve received like all-conference honors, MVP mentions, and academic awards.
- Explain why you want to play for that college and coach. Be specific.
- Link to your athletic profile. Give the coach an option to find out more about you. A good way to do that is to create an athletic profile at NCSA.
- Don’t forget your contact information. Make sure you’ve included your street address, phone number, and email address.
Below is a sample letter/email to a coach:
Dear (Coach's Name),
My name is (Your name) from (City and State) and I am writing to you because of my interest in playing (sport) at (college name). I play on my high school team and I consider myself (add something about your athletic ability).
Just to tell you a little bit about myself. I am an (position) on my school and (Now talk about your high school and club experience, any awards or honors, your work ethic, what you contribute most to the team).
As a student, I am (about you). I currently have a -- GPA and scored an -- out of 1600 on my SATs. I plan on retaking the SAT (date). My goal is (score). (Put in some extracurricular activities if applicable). (Your academic strengths). (Say something about the college/University’s academic record and your interest there)
(Include some upcoming plans and goals in this paragraph). I hope that you are able to see me play. Below I have included a link to my NCSA scouting page for you to view as it includes highlight videos and my athletic and academic information.
I would love to meet you and talk about the possibility of being a part of your team in (Grad year). If there is anything I can do to help you decide whether I might be a good fit for your program please don’t hesitate to ask. I will follow up with you soon by phone and if you have any further questions I look forward to answering them for you.
Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing back and contacting you via phone very soon.
Sincerely,
Johnny Student/Athlete
1234 Broadway Drive
Email: johnny@aol.com
Phone: 555-555-5555
Cell: 555-555-5555